A 15-YEAR-OLD golfer missed out on a hole-in-one and on setting a course record - because of a rules mistake after he struck a near perfect shot.

Josh Hogarth signed for a 65 at South Moor Golf Club, Stanley, County Durham, with a round of 10 birdies, five pars and three bogies.

But he could have gone one better, and set on outright course record, when his arrow-like six iron on the 184 yard par three 14th ended up in the hole, lodged against the flag.

He thought the rules stated that he had to pull the flag straight up and out, and in doing so, he made the ball pop out, finishing an agonising inch from the hole.

He tapped in for a birdie two and still went on to sign for a seven-under-par 65.

"If I had known the rules, it would have been a hole-in-one," said Josh, a pupil at North Durham Academy in Stanley.

"I thought you had to pull the flagstick out keeping it directly upright.

"When I did that, the ball squirted out and ended up an inch from the hole."

Josh only learned days after the tournament ended that the relevant part of R&A rule 17-4 reads: "The player may move or remove the flagstick."

That allows golfers the option of manoeuvring the flagstick to determine whether the ball falls into the hole.

"I signed for a two on the scorecard instead of one," said Josh. "I shall put it down to experience. It's a lesson learned."

The three-handicapper still won last month's South Moor Junior Championship despite his mistake.

Three other players have shot 65 on the course created by Dr Alister MacKenzie, who also designed Augusta National, home of the US Masters.

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